Improved machine for cutting caoutchouc



L. HULL. MACHINE FOR CUTTING OAOUTGHOUG, &c., INTO STRIPS AND THREADS.No. 37,446. Patented Jan. 20, 1863.

Inventor-.-

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UNITED. STATES PATFNTT OFFIEE...

L IVERAS HULL, OF OHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING CAOUTCHOUC, &c., INTO STRIPS AND THREADS.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,446, daed January20, 1863.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, LIVERAS H LL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex andStateof Massachusetts, have made a new and useful invention havingreference tothe separating of a sheet of caoutchouc into narrowfilaments or strips; and I do hereby declare the same to be fullydescribed, in the following specification, and represented in theaccompanying drawings,-1naking part thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure l exhibits a a top view, Fig. 2 a frontelevation, Fig. 3 a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a transverse section, ofa machine for cuttingor separating caoutohouc in the manner hereinproposed.

A sheet of caoutchouc, as usuallymade for hangout-into shreds or stripsfor being woven into suspenders or other elastic fabrics, is usually.formed of considerable length, forty yardsbeing no uncommon, length, thewidth being such as may be desirable within the capacity of the machineby which the sheet maybe produced. Such a sheet is, by the.

machine above mentioned, and hereinafter described, to be separatedlengthwise into a sericsof narrow bands -or strips,'all the cuts throughthe piece being made by one continuous cut of the cutter of the machine.

I do not employ a series of knives or rotary cutters, placed parallel toeach other, and arranged at small distances asunder, and run them in abody over the sheet from end to end of it; but I make use of but onecutter, and with the same employ a cylindrical drum or its equivalent,so arranged with respect to the cutter that the latter, provided withsuitable mechanism for putting it in motion, shall be caused to travelacross the cylinder or drum from end to end of itwith alregularvelocity, and to cut in a helical path through a piece of caontchouc,when wound around the external curved surface of the drum or cylinderone or' more times-that is, either once or less than once, or in aspiral about the said surface. By the term spiral, about such surface, Imean the curve, which is inherent to the mainspri'ngof a watch.

In the drawings, A denotes the frame of the machine, as supporting inboxes a a the shaft b of a cylinder or drum, B, and as provided with twoparallel ways or rails, c c, for sustaining and guiding a carriage, G.On the upper surface of the carriage (J are two ways or'rails, d d,which are arranged to extend at right angles to the surface of the.cylinder,'or crosswise of those on which the carriageC travels. Thesaid rails 01 d support and guide a puppet-head or cutter-carriage, D,which carries a revolving circular knife ora cutter, E, whose shaft 0 isarranged within standards f f, projecting upward from the said carriageA long screw, F, fixed in the frame A, except in beingcapable of beingrotated transversely, screws through a projection, 9, extending from theunder side of carriage C. There is also another screw, G, arrangedwithin the carriage O, and so fixed therein as to be stationary withrespect to such carriage,

except in being capable of being revolved by a crank, This latter screwscrews through another projection, h, which extends'downward from thecutter-carriage D and into a groove e, which is made in the carriage O.A long rotary driving-drum, I, is arranged within the frame A, andunderneath the screw F, as shown in the drawings. 'lwo endless bands, 00, go around the said drum, and two grooved pulleys, k Ir, fixed on therotary cuttershaft. There is a pulley, M, on the end of the shaft of thedriving-drum. An; endless band, N, goes around this pulley and anotherpulley, N, fixed on the shaft of the main drum B. Furthermore, there isa cone-pulley, O, on the main drum-shaft, and'there is also another suchcone-pulley, P, on the journal of the screw F. An endless band, It, runsaround the two cone-pulleys.

From the above it will be seen that when the driving-drum is put intorevolution, not only will the main drum and the rotary cutter berevolved,but the latter will have a uniform lateral movement imparted toit in a direction parallel to the axis of the main drum.

Preparatory to a sheet of caoutchouc being reduced to strips by the saidmachine, it is to be carried around the curved surface of the main drum,and to be suitably aflixed thereto by cement or other means. As eachstrip, as usually made for being converted into strips for elasticwebbing, would be several times longer than the circumference of themain drum, it is to be wound about the drum in a watch mainspring curveor spiral. After being so wound, the knife or rotary cutter is i to beforced into the strip, so as to cut at once i entirely through all thelayers of caoutchouc and when the machine may be put in action,

ward,-or whenthe piece of caoutchouc may have been removed fromthc'drum, that such piece will be cut lengthwise from endihenfi" of itin a series of parallel strips.

I am aware of the rawhide-cutting machine patented January 9, 184i, byPhilip B. Holmes and William Pedrick, and therefore I do not claim suchas my invention, it having its parts so arranged as to cause it, when inoperation,

to cut a hide spirally and intoone long piece or strip in'the shape of awatch mainspring spiral. My invention 'is' intended to operatedifferently. It cuts the sheet of caoutchouc by one continuous helix,and by means of a drum or cylinder, instead ofa fiat rotary tableoperating in connection with the knife or rotary cutter, and my saidmachine cuts the sheet of caoutchouc longitudinally, or in the directionof its grain, rather than in all directions, as is the case with theother machine referred to...

. When raoutehouc is cut in a spiral, as by the machine of the saidHolmes and Pedrick, it is apt to twist m'ore or less, and to render moreor less uneven the fabrics into which it may be interwovenz; but whenout in straight strips in the direction of its grain it is far betterfor use in making elastic woven, goods.

' l'am also aware that machines are not new in which are employed arotary knife to cut and a single cylinder to carry or support, the

shect'of cao'utchouc, and therefore I lay no claim to such. Thesemachines havebeen so constructedthat the cylinder of each had alitteral' movem'ent'in the line of its axis, the,

rotary cutter to each. cylinder being statonary, except in beingrevolved While in operation. -l lor" do I claim machines which have beenmade not only with two cylinders to carry or support an endless belt ofcaontchouc, but with cylinder, has a traversinglnotion.

two rotary cutter or shears, provided with mechanism not only forrotating them on their axes, but for imparting to them a traversingmotion parallel to the axes of the cylinders. Each of these systems ofmachines last mentioned, although having in common with my machine arotary cutter, and one or more cylinders to support the material to becut, difl'ers from my machine in important particulars, for in mysaidmachine but one cylinder or drum is employed to sustain the caoutchouc,and the cutting-knife, instead of the drum 0': The consequence is that amachine constructed on my improved plan will not take up half or near somuch the spacev as would be required foreither the second or third ofthe m achines above -mentioned and disclaiined.

The machine for operating on the endless belt ofcaontchouc differs frommine, because it requires twocylinders to support the caoutchouc', and,further more, it is necessary for the operation of the double-cylindermachine that the ca'outchouc should be reduced to the. state or be madein the form of an endless belt. It may also be remarked that inthislatter machine there is no mechanism-for moving the rotary shears of orcutters up to and away from the surface either of the drums orcylinders.

I claim- My'improved caoutchouccutting machine, having its several partsconstructed and arranged in manner and so as to operate substantially asdescribed, such machine not only having a single drum or cylinder tosupport, and a revolving knife to out, a sheet of caoutchonc,asexplained, but having machineiyfor traversing the rotary knife withreference to the drum,and also having machinery for moving such knifetoward and away from the drum, as specified.

LIVERAS HULL. Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr.

